HISTORICAL SKETCH. 11

etary's assent. The form was, therefore, that of a liberal
constitutional monarchy, with popular representation,

In 1651, Charles Calvert, only son of Cecilius, was sent
out as governor. He was liked by the people, and the
Province steadily grew and prospered under his adminis-
tration. A firm treaty of peace was made with the Susque-
hannoughs, a warlike nation of Indians at the head of the
bay, and the native tribes of Maryland were taken under
the protection of the government. Peace reigned through-
out the province; and the only serious grievance of the
colonists was the over-production of tobacco, which the
government in vain tried to check. Money was excessively
scare; and the great staple, tobacco, was the general circu-
lating medium for a hundred years or more.

Cecilius Calvert died in 1675, and Charles, third Baron
of Baltimore, succeeded to his title and dominions. During
his administration occurred a transaction which was to
result in the loss to Maryland of a large part of her terri-
tory. William Penn, to whose father's estate the crown
owed a large sum, obtained from King Charles II, in lieu
of payment, the grant of a tract of land west of the Dela-
ware river and north of Maryland. There was nothing in
this grant that encroached upon Maryland's territory, for
the fortieth parallel was named in both charters as the
southern boundary of the one, and the northern boundary
of the other. Penn, however, was extremely anxious to
carry his southern boundary to the head of the bay; and
after many fruitless attempts to induce Baltimore to agree
to a change of a boundary line to his advantage, refused to
join him in fixing it, and so the line was left undetermined.
He also obtained from the Duke of York, (afterwards James
II, ) a grant of the land bounding on the west side of the
Delaware bay, south to Cape Henlopen, land which the
Duke had no power to convey, as it was already included
in the Maryland charter. Of this also Penn kept a firm
hold.

The Protestant revolution, as it was called, which
dethroned James and gave the crown to William and Mary,
strongly stirred men's minds, even in distant Maryland.
Baltimore bad sent out orders to have the new sovereigns
proclaimed, but the messenger unfortunately died on the
way, and the delay thence resulting was used to alarm the
ignorant and timid. Although the Protestants outnumbered